Humour

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The booming continent is ripe for new partnerships, but with those who address us as equals not in aid bullet points. Market capitalism is shaking, and all of a sudden the vast grassroots has oil and copper, and willing, driven and ambitious hands. The continent is ripe for new partnerships, new capital â€“ new strong handshakes.

It remains striking that whereas the Morsi government has opted to punish its critics, it has largely spared right-wing religious commentators who deride Egyptâ€™s opposition as infidels, routinely blast Jews and Shias, and incite hatred against Egyptâ€™s large Christian minority. Moreover, its resort to hounding the press smacks of the methods used by Hosni Mubarakâ€™s ousted regime.
The regionâ€™s leaders might pause to ponder the words of Ahmed Sanoussi, a Moroccan comedian better known as Bziz. After an 18-year ban from appearing in public, he was asked if there should be any rules for satire. â€œYes,â€ he said, â€œto attack only the powerful, not the weak.â€

In Tunisia, Sami Fehri, a producer of a political puppet show that mocked the ruling Islamist party, Ennahda, has been in jail since November.
In Egypt, along with Youssef, the prosecutor has also aimed charges of “mocking religion” against Ali Kandil, a standup comedian who appears regularly on Youssef’s “El-Bernameg,” (The Programme). Kandil’s “crime” was to criticise the cacophony of some calls to prayer in Egypt. A lawyer with an Islamist-affiliated watchdog group has filed charges of blasphemy against Doaa El-Adl, one of Egypt’s few women cartoonists. In Tunisia, rapper Weld El 15 was recently sentenced in absentia to two years in prison for insulting the police.
Youssef’s satire lassos the powerful, while the powerful lash out against the vulnerable.

VOM quizzes his guests (Pakistani entertainers) on subjects that the nation ordinarily consider as taboo and/or embarrassing. His main themes are sexuality and â€˜the forbiddenâ€™. His questions and comments are on topics such as virginity, homosexuality, self-abuse and gratification, prostitutes, courtesans, menâ€™s underwear, adult films, alcohol consumption, extra-marital affairs and an endless list of similar items.